February 27: Your cue

The Gazans' plight might get more sympathy here in Israel if they showed they were against the continual rocket attacks into Israel.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters to the editor (photo credit: )
letters to the editor
(photo credit: )
Your cue Sir, - The Gazans' plight might get more sympathy here in Israel if they showed they were against the continual rocket attacks into Israel. A mass street demonstration in Gaza of, say, 20,0000 Palestinians protesting the attacks would be nice. But let's be realistic: How about 10,000 marching in favor of a cessation of rocket attacks? ("Gov't approves fortification of Sderot and Gaza area," February 25.) DAVID AMINOFF Jerusalem Sir, - I would like to suggest that all residents of Sderot and other communities targeted by Hamas's rockets attempt to walk en masse into the Gaza Strip and request, with signs and leaflets in English and Arabic, that the residents of Gaza prevail upon their leaders to halt the attacks. I think they could confidently predict that the borders would be opened once the rocket attacks and other terrorist actions aimed at civilians stopped. ALAN EDELSTEIN Sacramento/Jerusalem Sir, - It's about time Gaza was put under real pressure to release Gilad Schalit unconditionally and stop the Kassams coming. First, remove all privileges from the Arab prisoners we have - no family visits, no telephone calls, no radio, no TV, no reading material of any kind. I'm sure the IDF has missiles the size of the Kassams. It needs to start peppering the Gaza Strip with these missiles, as they have done to us. At some stage, hopefully, the prisoners completely cut off from the outside world will crack and the casualties in Gaza will cause a rebellion against Hamas. If not, we have stronger means, and should use them. IVAN MYERS Petah Tikva Doing the crawl Sir, - "Jerusalem missing from the agenda as Olmert and Abbas meet" (February 20) reported that at last week's Jerusalem Conference, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated: "Whoever thinks stopping negotiations will stop terror is not in touch with reality." Ending negotiations alone won't stop the terror, but it is the first and necessary step in the process to end the terror. Up till now our government has shown our enemies that terrorist attacks work in forcing Israel to the negotiating table. Instead of sending a painful message to Fatah and others that terror doesn't pay, our policy, dating back to the Rabin government, has been to negotiate as if terror didn't exist. This empowers and inspires our enemies to continue with their murderous ways, knowing full well that they can not only get away with them scot-free, but that Israel will still come crawling back to the table. JOSH HASTEN Jerusalem Sir, - Please, will some Israeli explain to me what actual thing the Palestinians have done to show they are interested in peace? Since 1948 these nomadic Arabs have committed continual acts of terror and murder. Don't you folks get it by now, that they are incapable of living peacefully? IKE SHAPIRO New York The End Sir, - Gershon Baskin wrote: "A military attack against Gaza will not achieve the strategic objective of ending the attacks from there against Israel. Only an agreed-on cease-fire with the Hamas will stop the Kassams" ("To save lives - negotiate with the devil," February 26). Mr. Baskin believes that Hamas terror cannot be defeated using military force. This puts Hamas in a very strong bargaining position, and suggests that we should capitulate to their demands - our destruction. BARRY LYNN Efrat Payment in kind Sir, - I recommend that batteries of rocket launchers be set up along our border with Gaza with automated sensors that will trigger a barrage of rockets to be fired back only when a rocket is fired in our direction. These launchings should be totally automated and the distances of reach random. How many to fire back for each launching that comes our way? A ratio of 10 to one comes to mind. The batteries should be mobile and well protected. It should be emphasized that not one rocket is fired if there is no fire from the other side. This approach should be well publicized to Hamas and to the world, with no apologies for any casualties or damages that may occur on the other side ("Ten-year-old Sderot boy wounded by Kassam," February 25). NATAN BARUCH BEN YEHUDA Ra'anana 'Twiterati' Sir, - "Hamas's illegitimacy" (Editorial, February 25) referred to a number of "Israel's leading literati" who signed an open letter calling for "give and take" with Hamas. If these unhinged leftists, whose influence is far less than their pretensions, still haven't learned that give and take with people like Hamas means "we give and they take," they simply underline George Orwell's quip that only intellectuals could be so stupid. ELAINE ABELSON Beit Shemesh Unfair play Sir, - Stewart Weiss wrote a damning article about hypocrisy in the Jewish world ("A twist on the 'Who is a Jew' question," February 25). To me it would seem more appropriate for the good rabbi to be venting his indignation against an insane system of (US) justice that would incarcerate a fellow human being for 27 years for "financial fraud." Hitting a man when he is down is not fair play, is it? Instead he could be advocating some measure of balance in accordance with the Jewish legal system, which aims to rehabilitate and not destroy a criminal. SHIRLEY DOMB Jerusalem Real, strong unity Sir, - I appreciated "Building a shared Jewish culture" (i.e., between Israeli and US Jews, Editorial, February 22), but was disturbed by your glaring lack of any reference to the Torah, the sole source of cultural unity between Jews of widely differing secular cultures, from yekke to Yemenite. Judaism is far more than just culture and civilization, it is a covenant between God and the Jewish people that the Jews study and observe His Divine Torah. Our common effort to build a State of Israel that will be a Divine model for all of mankind is the only way to strongly unite Jews. Those Israelis most committed to the authentic Jewish hope and dream of being a holy - not just a free - people in our land, will have problems in any exchange program with US Jews that does not allow them to observe Shabbat and kashrut. YAAKOV FOGELMAN Jerusalem Recollections, please Sir, - I am writing a book on the people who took part in the War of Independence, working title: Purpose. It is not a study of the war itself - that has been done, and rather well - but of the people who played a role, the how and the why, with their recollections. I would appreciate any contributions from Post readers, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant. I hope a book like this might help non-Israelis and non-Jews understand Israel better. Contributions used will be acknowledged and, as with all my work, charities supported - in this case, a special-needs school in northern Israel. MARTIN GREEN martin@martingreenart.co.uk Cambridge, UK